In my experiences dealing with a gourmet coffee enthusiast clientele, it has become increasingly apparent that in their quest to enjoy a bold cup of coffee, many people will demand only dark roasted coffee regardless of the country of origin. I wanted to write this article from my own roasting experiences to shed a little light on how a bold cup of coffee can be achieved while keeping the coffee bean's origin character intact. It is important to note that coffee beans from certain countries are inherently more suited for dark roasting that others. South American coffee beans tend to be grown at the highest altitudes, resulting in the hardest beans. Therefore, these beans would best be able to handle dark roasting. Indonesian coffees are grown at relatively high altitudes, although typically not as high as the South American beans, and therefore produce a slightly softer bean. African coffees tend to be the least flexible when trying to produce a dark roast. However, the best examples, like the Ethiopian Yirgacheffe add a terrific zip to a properly proportioned blend. This raises the question of how to best describe "bold". It seems that most coffee enthusiasts define a bold coffee as one that leans more toward the roast character than the origin character, which is usually achieved in a dark roasted coffee. However, a bold coffee could also be defined as one that leaves a more lasting impression than a coffee that is not bold. http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=bold defines the word "bold" as "Fearless and daring; courageous." in its first definition. When applying this definition to gourmet coffee, we understand that a coffee can be fearless and daring whether it is a light roast, a dark roast, or a medium roast. The country of origin seems to have much more to do with achieving a bold cup that does the roast. A Peruvian or Brazilian coffee does not have the distinct spiciness that a fine Guatemalan coffee has. With this said, I would like to suggest a new blend for those of you that prefer dark roasts for their boldness. The following is one of my favorites and I know that you will like it too: blend 40% French (dark)-roasted Guatemala Huehuetenango arabica coffee beans with 40% medium-roasted Sumatra Gayoland arabica coffee beans, with 20% light-roasted Ethiopian Yirgacheffe arabica coffee beans. This blend takes advantage of the best characteristics of each origin country and produces a flavorful, aromatic cup of coffee with a tantalizing zip. So, when trying to roast a bold cup of coffee, keep this recipe in mind. Through experimentation, I have found it to be quite pleasurable for our clients, and it has become one of my favorites as well. I hope you have fun roasting this one yourself, but if you are not a home roaster, we would be glad to help you out. |
